Is productivity unique for each individual? ⚡
It all started on a typical, working-from-home, Tuesday. I try to make the most of my mornings so I tend to wakeup early, go through a full-body yoga stretch, cook a nice breakfast and sit down with a book for a bit. An early start always makes the day feel longer and sets me up for a productive morning. On this particular day, I started to wonder: would this work for someone else? Surely if we were all productive at the same time, or in the same way, we would never have to work late, or struggle to get work done during our normal working hours?
It reminded me of an old spotify podcast and a term I came across: chronotype. It’s a somewhat new concept based on a very old idea. It explores how our sleeping patterns affect our lives, from the hours we are most productive to when we need to eat, sleep and get work done (for optimum usage of our time).
“Chronotype is the natural inclination of your body to sleep at a certain time, or what most people understand as being an early bird versus a night owl. [...] Chronotype has an influence on appetite, exercise, and core body temperature. It is responsible for the fact that you feel more alert at certain periods of the day and sleepier at others.”
Everyone's productivity ebbs and flows over the course of a day. Chronotypes are not an exact science and even when we look at population percentages on the four types listed here, there’s still a 5% that’s unaccounted for. That’s because some people can identify with more than one type. That’s perfectly fine and these types shouldn’t determine your life, they are there as a guiding tool. The goal is to use every hour of your day wisely. At peak performance times, you can plan to tackle complex, creative, or complicated tasks and ask colleagues to avoid disturbing you or scheduling long meetings. At times of low energy levels, you can choose to focus on easier tasks or take your break.
Instead of forcing yourself to abide by a sleep-work routine that doesn’t suit you, work with your body’s natural rhythm to ensure you’re as productive as possible.
What about the working late culture?
According to a lot of these chronotypes, the majority of the population performs its best in the morning and early afternoon. However, from my experience working in different agencies and studios, the creative sector favours working late. I’ve been to offices where the working late gang (and yes, they were very much a gang) would start to plan what to have for dinner around early afternoon. I’ve realised that many of my former colleagues, had developed a habit of taking it easy after lunch, because they knew they were going to stay until late anyway and were trying to reserve some energy for it.
So is working late increasing productivity? For me, it rarely worked. I work at optimum level during the day and try to get as much done as possible within my allocated 7 hours a day. And I say 7 here because let’s be realistic, on a typical day, if we count coffee breaks, snacking or a bit of a chat on slack, you get about 7 solid hours of work (if you are diligent). And you know what? That’s actually plenty. When I compare my efficiency now to where it was when I was constantly working late, I can easily say I’m currently more productive. In fact, I’m way more creative when I work normal hours. I don’t feel constantly exhausted and I have time to do other things after work, which are helping refuel my energy for the next day.
“Overwork and work stress are associated with many cardiac risk factors. Those who work long hours tend to have unhealthy lifestyles, with less exercise, worse diets, and higher consumption of alcohol and tobacco.”
But what if there’s a crisis? The occasional crisis is fine. It happens. What you don’t want is a series of them. Then it’s no longer a crisis, it’s just poor time management and project allocation. Working late is taking a toll on your mental health, creativity and can have serious physical health implications in the long run. Choose when to invest your time and when to call it a day.
When to add the extra hours in
I’m not opposed to working more if need be. But working more should be the exception to the rule, not the rule itself. There might be times when you need to put extra hours in because–as we all know–the creative sector is a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes–the stars misalign–and feedback comes in late, clients throw curve balls at you, pitches come up, you are trying to create the best work of your career, or you are simply really getting into a creative flow. Then you can safely stay late. Because you are there for a reason. You time is not wasted, it’s invested.
Set realistic tasks with your team
One of the best ways to work within a team is by setting tasks for the day. One of the reasons I love my current workplace is that we tend to have quick huddles in the morning to decide what everyone is working on. People then share a note on their progress at the end of the day. It’s not groundbreaking, but it shows your team you trust them to be responsible for their time, and keeps everyone updated on what’s happening.
Don’t allocate time on tasks, let each individual decide how long things will take. By allowing everyone to take on what feels doable to them, you allow them to stay in charge of their growth. They are in control of their time. They understand that they are able to develop when they put the work in, and in return, you can help them when and where they need your input.
It’s time that we shift from a manic working culture to a productive one. The creative industry is not the place to have long hours. Flexibility, self-responsibility and a healthy space for growth can help us all go a step further. It works both ways as the shift in culture allows managers to focus on managing, rather than trying to put out ‘little fires’ and their teams to learn by doing, recognising when they need help and feeling comfortable asking for it.
Flexible working hours
I saw the rise of ‘flexible’ working hours during the pandemic (you thought that period has been forgotten huh?) and the concept has been thrown around a bit since.
“Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.”
What this mean for people? Parents are able to pick up their children from nursery in the afternoon and still work their hours (either starting early or finishing late). Employees can choose to start early and finish early, or work less hours on Friday if they’ve already completed their hours for the week. These ways of working are not new. Some employers have opened up the classic schedule rulebook and ripped the pages. Because we are now starting to understand that different people have different needs.
To sum up
The typical 9-5 is an old fashion concept and won’t work for everyone. At the end of the day we are in a business of people, and creative ones at that. Some are early birds, some are night owls, most sit somewhere in between. Forcing everyone to be productive during the same period is unrealistic. Instead, we need to ask people what works best for them, so they can have more ownership and really make the most of their productive hours. If someone knows their energy will plunge after lunch, they might want to get most of their deep concentration work done in the morning and save smaller, mindless tasks for after lunch. If someone performs best late in the afternoon, they might want to negotiate a late start to the day, and subsequently a later finish.
One size doesn’t fit all. Productivity is individual for each person and it should be treated as such. As we are starting to explore our own mind’s workings more, we unlock insights about what works and what doesn’t. These insights can inform the way we approach work and life so there’s more balance between the two.
Productivity is about getting work done within your given time-frame, so that you have more time for other things: rest, family, exercise, social events, a pub drink or hobbies. If you are working constantly, that energy will only diminish over time and you’ll find the well running dry. Life is what’s fuelling your creative energy. So don’t forget to live it.
Get inspired
🧡 Loving the Design Better podcast on spotify. But did you know they also have a substack account you can subscribe to?
🤘 Brutalist websites is a great place to get site inspiration, from a younger generation, that’s rugged and uncomfortable (in the best way).
👀 I’ve recently visited the Delight exhibition, featuring media art that’s inspired by Korean culture, and really enjoyed the gamified aspect of it.